


Safe

by notmyyacht



Category: Law & Order: SVU, Trouble in the Heights (2011)
Genre: Bullying, Crossover Pairings, High School, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Pre-Slash, Tutoring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-15 23:36:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7243375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notmyyacht/pseuds/notmyyacht
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eddie wasn't the only protector Rafael had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Safe

**Author's Note:**

> This was going to be a drabble but then it got longer! Oops ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> Anyway, thank you to the anon on tumblr who prompted this! This is very much unbeta'd. Enjoy!

If it wasn't Eddie, it was Nevada. That was how Rafael got to and from school every day. One of them would be there.

At first glance, one would think Eddie was probably the better one to have around. He was bigger, tougher. Eddie had hit puberty before everyone else in their class. At 14, Eddie was already trying out for a major spot on the football team. At 14, Rafael still looked 10.

At 16, Rafael finally started filling out, so to speak. He was still lanky and skinny with a soft belly. At least he looked like an actual teenager and not a child anymore. But he envied Eddie's muscles. Alex told him that it was okay, that muscles weren't everything. Easy for him to say. By then, he was already dating Yelina, the girl Rafael was sure only a year ago that he would marry right out of high school. So much for that.

Alex and Eddie had everything: girls, looks... But they didn't have Nevada.

It was the only upside to being a wimp because at least he had brains.

Nevada was a smart-mouthed little punk who lived two doors down from Rafael, but never interacted with until high school. Up until then, Nevada scared him. Nevada was the type Rafael expected would come after him for his lunch money or firmly hold his arm behind his back until he screamed and cried, as so many other punks had.

Nevada ignored him though. He was also a late bloomer, but he had a reputation. _Nobody_ messed with Nevada Ramirez. The senior quarterback tried to bully him freshman year and lost two teeth for his troubles. Nevada walked away with a broken wrist, but it was more a badge of honor than an injury.

There were bullies and then there was Nevada and Rafael was absolutely terrified to even look at him.

Then came 3rd period History, junior year. Somewhere somehow Mr. Sanchez thought it would be a good idea to have Nevada and Rafael sit next to each other. Great. At least Lauren Sullivan, Rafael's crush, was sitting in front of him. The back of her head made Rafael relax a bit more and forget that Nevada was sitting next to him.

For four weeks it was perfect. Early October and Mr. Sanchez was giving a lecture about The Great Depression. Rafael only half-listened, for Mr. Sanchez was pretty much reading the section right out of their textbook that Rafael had already read the night before.

Lauren had her long dark hair pulled back today in a pink hair tie. Rafael thought about that hair. How all she had to do was pass a note back to him and he would obey. It wouldn't matter what Mr. Sanchez thought. The United States' financial problems meant nothing if Rafael was given the chance to reach forward and pull out that hair tie. The approving hum Lauren would make at the feel of his fingertips through her hair-

"Pst! Barba!"

Rafael sat up straight, immediately sprung from his fantasy at the sound of his name. He looked over to the front of the classroom where Mr. Sanchez stood, still reading from the text book. Rafael's brow furrowed. Who-?

A crumpled piece of paper suddenly flew onto his desk. Rafael looked to where it had come from and he stopped short.

Nevada Ramirez was staring at him. He jutted his chin out, and looked at the crumpled piece of paper. Rafael looked down at it, then again at Nevada. He pointed at himself. _For me?_

Nevada nodded.

Rafael slowly flattened out the note and read its contents.

'hey meet me after class'

Rafael's stomach did a flip. He did not want to meet Nevada Ramirez after class, but hell, he knew this day was coming.

"I need a tutor."

Rafael stood off to the side with Nevada, flabbergasted. Did he really just...?

"Why the fuck should I tutor you?" Rafael didn't want to anger Nevada, but he wasn't going to back down. Like hell he was going to show fear in front of the scariest kid in school.

A smirk played at Nevada's lips, obviously enjoying the backbone Rafael was showing.

"This is my second time taking history. I need a tutor. You need a solution to your bullying problems."

Rafael swallowed thickly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, trying to keep his still-changing voice from cracking.

"You think I don't know? I know. I live on the same floor as you, I know a lot more about you than you think. Plus, I saw what Ryan Loomis did to you last week." Nevada paused only to look off and chuckle to himself. Rafael tried not to wonder if that trip down the stairs Ryan Loomis took that busted up his leg was actually an accident. Nor did Rafael allow himself to think about the fact that Nevada saw him so easily get shoved into a locker.

"So," Nevada continued, "we got a deal or what?"

Did Rafael have much of a choice? Perhaps, perhaps not.

It ended up being a pretty good deal though.

Eddie didn't walk Rafael to school as often as he used to when they were smaller. It was fine. Rafael had Nevada Ramirez and all of his bullying problems were over.

Nevada would wait outside in the hallway every morning. He wouldn't put his arm around Rafael, but he'd stand close enough. Rafael also found himself learning more about Nevada during their walks to school than he did in the years they'd been neighbors. They were _friendly_. 

Nevada was a terrible person to tutor for. He hated the details, the dates, the dense information. He would never study, despite Rafael's scolds. Rafael would have to physically be there to study with Nevada the nights before tests and quizzes. Nevada would try to change the subject or tease him about Lauren Sullivan, but Rafael would always ignore it to try to get Nevada to simply memorize the date of D-Day.

The end of the semester was close, as was Christmas break. Nevada seemed much more enthusiastic about the latter, but it was the night before finals and Rafael said he'd come over at eight. It was nine-thirty when Rafael knocked on the front door of the Ramirez home.

Maria, Nevada's sister, let Rafael in as always.

"Hey Raf," she greeted. He forced a smile and a gave quick "Hi" without looking at her. Nevada's bedroom door was open.

"Sorry I'm late," Rafael said, dumping his textbook on the floor. He immediately sat down, cross-legged, eyes averting Nevada, who was sitting on the bed.

"You're _really_ late," Nevada commented.

"I know and I said I'm sorry. Can we just do this?"

Nevada narrowed his eyes and joined Rafael on the floor.

"You okay?" he asked.

"No, but whatever. Can we please..." Rafael trailed off as Nevada grabbed his chin and turned him so he could look at his face.

There was a heavy silence that filled the room. Then Nevada spoke, his voice dark and low.

"Who the fuck did this?"

Rafael slapped Nevada's hand away.

"You can protect me from gangs on our street and bullies at school, but you can't protect me from everything. Let it go, Nevada."

Nevada gritted his teeth and got to his feet. Rafael listened to bare footsteps on the wood floors exit the room and go down the short hall. A minute later, they returned and Nevada sat down again.

"Here, hold this," he said, grabbing Rafael by the hair, tugging it only to let him know to tilt his head back. Something cold and slimy was pressed against the side of Rafael's face. A slab of steak. He holds it there as instructed and feels the textbook slide out of his lap.

"'On September 1st, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. By the afternoon, they were parading through the streets. On September 3rd, Britain and France declared war on Germany...' And we thought we had problems?"

Rafael could practically hear the smile on Nevada's lips. Rafael almost smiled with him.

Nevada dropped out of school three months later.

At 29, Rafael Barba had filled out a lot more. No longer the scrawny nerd, but a young man successfully climbing.

At 29, Nevada Ramirez reached his own top and didn't waste it.

Rafael was in Boston when he got the call from his mother.

_"Rafi... your father was in an accident last night... h-he didn't make it."_

Rafael would never forget the sobs between her words. He would also never forget how, for the first time in his life, he felt completely safe.


End file.
